Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 01 September 1990 from one or moreof the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. Updatedby the P.O.W. NETWORK 1998.

REMARKS: 660318 DIC/BNR ON PRG LIST

SYNOPSIS: SGT Leonard M. Tadios was a light weapons infantry advisorattached to Headquarters MACV. On December 11, 1964, he was with an ARVNunit operating about five miles southwest of Thanh Hoa in Phong DinhProvince, South Vietnam. [NOTE: Defense Department lists loss coordinates asPhong Dinh Province, or near the border of Chuong Thien Province, but USArmy accounts state that Tadios was lost in An Xuyen Province, which is some50 miles southwest.]

The ARVN unit was ambushed by Viet Cong forces, and Tadios was captured andtaken prisoner. For the next 18 months, Tadios was held in several POW campsthroughout South Vietnam.

For Americans captured in South Vietnam, daily life could be expected to bebrutally difficult. Primarily, these men suffered from disease induced by anunfamiliar and inadequate diet - dysentery, edema, skin fungus and eczema.The inadequate diet coupled with inadequate medical care led to the deathsof many. Besides dietary problems, these POWs had other problems as well.They were moved regularly to avoid being in areas that would be detected byU.S. troops, and occasionally found themselves in the midst of U.S. bombingstrikes. Supply lines to the camps were frequently cut off, and when theywere, POWs and guards alike suffered. Unless they were able to remain in onelocation long enough to grow vegetable crops and tend small animals, theirdiet was limited to rice and what they could gather from the jungle.

In addition to the primitive lifestyle imposed on these men, their Viet Congguards could be particularly brutal in their treatment. For any minorinfraction, including conversation with other POWs, the Americans werepsychologically and physically tortured. American POWs brought back storiesof having been buried to the neck; held for days in a cage with noprotection from insects and the environment; having had water and foodwithheld; being shackled and beaten. The effects of starvation and torturefrequently resulted in hallucinations and extreme disorientation. Men werereduced to animals, relying on the basic instinct of survival as theirguide.

Tadios was seen by several other Americans in POW camps, and severalreported that he was in very bad shape, and they helped care for him. Tadioswas sick and had stopped eating. One day he was removed from the camp andnever returned. The POWs were told he was taken to a hospital and he died.At least one returnee stated that Tadios died of starvation. The Vietnameseinformed the U.S. that Tadios died March 18, 1966. They have made no effortto return his remains.

Since the war ended, and 591 Americans were released from prison camps inVietnam, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans missing in Southeast Asiahave been received by the U.S. Many officials, having reviewed this largelyclassified information have reluctantly concluded that hundreds of them arestill alive in captivity today.